Sexual misconduct
Freedom of Information Act request number: 2022-065
Version date: 09/02/2022
The Professional Standards Department have provided the following information:
Please note:
The table details the number of allegations made against officers and staff, not the number of officers or staff subject to an allegation as in some cases an officer or staff member may have been subject to more than one allegation.
Where the rank states ‘SC’ this means Special Constable.
Where the gender is ‘unknown’ this is as a specific officer or staff member has not been identified as subject of the allegation (so for example a complaint was made of ‘an officer’ but it hasn’t been determined who that officer is or was).
Rather than if the complaint was made by a member of the public or member of staff we have detailed if the allegation is a public complaint or an internal conduct matter. Members of Dorset police cannot make a complaint, hence why these are often recorded as conduct matters. However a conduct matter can also be identified without an individual reporting the matter (for example it could be identified that sex on duty has occurred without either party reporting this) and in those cases there would not be an answer of either a member of the public or a member of staff.
1. How many sexual misconduct claims have been made against members of your police force over the last four years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), with a breakdown for each year. By sexual misconduct, I mean: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment or Sexual misconduct.
|
Year recorded |
No. of complaints |
|
2018 |
14 |
|
2019 |
22 |
|
2020 |
24 |
|
2021 |
22 |
|
Total |
82 |
Please also break this down by claims made against a) police officers and b) police staff
|
Year recorded |
Police Officers |
Police Staff |
Unknown |
|
2018 |
12 |
2 |
0 |
|
2019 |
20 |
1 |
1 |
|
2020 |
19 |
5 |
0 |
|
2021 |
13 |
7 |
2 |
|
Total |
64 |
15 |
3 |
Please say whether the complaint was made by a) member of the public b) police officer/ member of staff
|
Year recorded |
Public Complaint |
Internal Conduct |
|
2018 |
0 |
14 |
|
2019 |
3 |
19 |
|
2020 |
1 |
23 |
|
2021 |
4 |
18 |
|
Total |
8 |
74 |
I would also be grateful if you could indicate the seniority of the staff member. For example if a police officer, are they a sergeant/ chief inspector/ superintendent
|
Rank |
No. of complaints |
|
Constable |
41 |
|
Sergeant |
4 |
|
Inspector |
17 |
|
SC |
2 |
|
Total |
64 |
2. Of the complaints per year, how many were made against a) men and how many against b) women. Please break this down by year and also by claims made against
a) police officers
|
|
Gender of accused |
|
|
Year recorded |
Female |
Male |
|
2018 |
0 |
12 |
|
2019 |
0 |
20 |
|
2020 |
2 |
17 |
|
2021 |
5 |
8 |
|
Total |
7 |
57 |
and b) police staff
|
|
Gender of accused |
|
|
Year recorded |
Female |
Male |
|
2018 |
0 |
2 |
|
2019 |
0 |
1 |
|
2020 |
3 |
2 |
|
2021 |
1 |
6 |
|
Total |
4 |
11 |
3. What outcome/decisions were taken as a result of each these complaints/claims. Please break this down by year and by outcome for
a) police officer
|
Outcome |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Dismissal Without Notice |
3 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
|
Learning from reflection |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Management Action |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
Would have been Dismissed |
2 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
|
Written Warning |
3 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
Disapplication - by Force |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
No Case to Answer |
2 |
9 |
5 |
2 |
|
The service provided was acceptable |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Investigation ongoing |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Total |
12 |
20 |
19 |
13 |
and b) police staff
|
Outcome |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
Retired/Resigned |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Would have been Dismissed |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Written Warning |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
|
No Case to Answer |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
Investigation ongoing |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Total |
2 |
1 |
5 |
7 |